Lost
by Anawey
Summary: What if Zuko hadn't been able to escape the Boiling Rock? If he'd been caught and had to stay behind? My take on how it all could have gone.
1. Chapter 1

Lost and Found

What if Zuko hadn't been able to escape the Boiling Rock? If he'd been caught and had to stay behind? My take on how it all could have gone.

Disclaimer; Avatar is not mine.

Separate  
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Sokka, Suki Chit-seng, and Hakoda all stared at Zuko as he stood beside the broken handle of the gondola.

"What's he _doing?!" _Suki cried. "They'll catch him! Why isn't he coming with us?" She turned nervous eyes to Sokka. "Why's he just standing there?"

Sokka watched as the guards tackled Zuko to the ground, none to gently, then turned a grave, somber face to Suki.

"He's distracting them," he said in a monotone. "So we can get away."

-

-

Zuko watched with a small, satisfied smile as the gondola with Sokka, Suki, Hakoda, Chit-seng, and the warden pulled away. Then suddenly, he was knocked to the ground, the air leaving his lungs in a whoosh. Then, he was chained, and dragged back up to his feet.

"Well," a cold familiar voice sneered. "I guess you _are _a traitor after all."

Zuko's eyes went wide.

"Azula," he gasped.

Azula smirked. "How _did _you guess?" she drawled sarcastically. Turning to the guard that held Zuko, she snapped, "Take him to a cell!" The guard pushed him hard, and Zuko stumbled forward, praying his sacrafice would be worth it. His only regret was breaking his promise to Aang to teach him firebending. Oh well. Chit-seng could do that. He looked over his shoulder past the guards to the retreating gondola, and met Sokka's eyes. The Water Tribe warrior nodded, then he was gone, and Zuko was shoved away, a hand impacting hard with the back of his head and forcing it down, as he was led away to a cell.

-

-

The group left the gondola with defeated spirits. Chit-seng dumped the warden in the gondola, and followed the others. A joke about the prison's reputation of no one escaping being broken floated into Hakoda's mind, but he didn't have the heart to say it. The prince of the enemy nation had sacraficed his freedom for them. Now, he was in for a fate worse than death, and there was nothing any of them could do. Going back was out of the option.

Hakoda was drawn from his thoughts when he heard Sokka shout, "I found our way out of here!" Hakoda ran to the top of the cliff to his son's side, and looked where he was pointing. there, at the edge of the sea, was a huge airship. "Come on, everyone," Sokka continued. "We need to regroup with the others before we can figure a rescue plan."

-

-

"Sokka," Katara exclaimed. "What are you doing in that thing... and," Katara's eyes went wide, "where's Zuko?" Sokka looked at her with sad eyes. No one even noticed the others get off the airship, everyone's attention was focused on Sokka.

"H-he sacraficed his freedom," Suki whispered, near tears at how nobly Zuko had acted, "for ours."

"I'm Chit-seng, by the way," a man said, his voice solemn. Then Katara noticed her father next to the new person, and flung her arms around him. The reunion, however, wasn't a happy one. In return for Sokka, Hakoda, Suki, and this Chit-seng, they'd lost Zuko, who'd gotten to be so friendly and helpful over the last two weeks.

"What about firebending?" Aang whispered, his grey eyes sad. Aside from Toph, he'd been the first to trust Zuko again, and learning that the prince had been captured was a heavy blow to the boy. "H-he promised to teach me..."

"Don't cry, Twinkletoes." Toph's heart was clearly not in her words, and everyone could hear the slight tremmor in her voice. Zuko, the guy who'd once been their bitterest enemy, had somehow endeared himself to all of them, and they'd miss him. On top of that, he was a known traitor to the Fire Nation. There was no telling what would happen to him.

"The question now is; how do we get him out of there?" Hakoda asked, looking around. No one had a plan.

That night was silent. No one spoke a word about what had happened, when they talked at all. Conversation was limited.

-

-

Zuko sat in his cell, silent and still. Movement outside his door caught his attention, and he turned to see Mai's face. He glared and turned away.

"Why'd you do it, Zuko?" she asked. Zuko didn't answer. "You could have captured that guy, could have had him arrested. You would have been a _hero_!"

Zuko stiffened when he heard Mai's words. _Is this what I sounded like to Uncle? _he wondered. _So harsh? So desperate?_

"Not a hero, Mai," the prince whispered. "My father would never allow it now."

"Why?" Mai asked in her bored voice.

"Because _I'm _the Avatar's firebending teacher," Zuko replied in a low tone. Mai stared at him.

"I _was _going to help you, you know," she growled. "But Azula was right. You _are _a traitor." Zuko groaned in annoyance.

"How many times am I going to have to say this? _I DIDN'T MEAN TO HURT YOU_!"

Mai scoffed.

"Yeah, well, you did," she returned, turning and stalking away.

"And I'm not as sorry as I thought," Zuko whispered to himself, curling into a tight ball on the bed. _How am I going to get out of this one? _he wondered, as sleep took over his mind. He was lost and alone in one of - if not the - the highest security prisons in the entire Fire Nation, and the guards would be expecting some sort of rescue attempt, so the possibility of his friends coming for him was small. He was really stuck.

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Yep, the idea for this poped into my head one day after watching 'The Boiling Rock' part two the other day. Review, please!


	2. Discovering the Distance

Sorry for the wait guys, here's chapter two!

Discovering the Distance  
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Zuko groaned, slowly sitting up. For a split second, he panicked. _Where am I? How did I get here? This isn't the Western Air Temple!_ Then he remembered, and he flopped back onto his bed, groaning again. He'd stayed behind so that the others could leave and get away safely. He'd given up his freedom for them. If they did anything stupid, like coming to rescue him, that was it, all he'd done would be for nothing.

"Do what you do best, Katara," the teen whispered. "Keep them together."

He rolled over, ready to go back to sleep, when the sound of his door opening caught his attention, and he turned to see a pair of guards standing there. They grabbed him, and dragged him off roughly to who-knew-where.

After a while, he was shoved roughly into a chair, and strapped down so he couldn't escape. His eyes narrowed when the warden entered.

"What do you want?!" Zuko snarled, glaring angrily at Mai's uncle. The warden circled him slowly, enjoying his position immensely.

"Where is he?" the man asked, leaning in close to Zuko's face.

For a moment, Zuko couldn't tell if the warden meant the Avatar, or Sokka. The banished prince just shook his head. he wouldn't say a word about either.

"You are a fool to think you can protect them forever," the warden snarled. "One of these days, you're going to screw up; say something, and it will all be over. You will have betrayed your Little partner in crime and all your traitor friends, because you are nothing more than a pathetic, weak, worthless, useless, _disgraceful -_"

Hot smoke blew into the warden's face, making him stagger back, choking slightly on the dark puffs from the banished prince's nose and tightly clenched jaw. The warden glared tightly at the teenager.

"Put him in the cooler," he growled. "He needs to learn to _cool _his hot temper!"

Zuko returned the warden's glare tenfold, not willing to back down and show fear. He was pulled roughly from the chair, but did not respond. He allowed himself to be dragged off to a cooler, where he was thrown - none too gently, either - and locked inside.

Zuko shivered, curling into a ball, and glared at the closed door. He'd find a way out of this. But at least the others had managed to get away. That they got out was priority. Zuko owed Sokka, Katara and Aang his life, it was only fair that he now return the favor by allowing a sister to have her brother back, and a young boy to see his friend again. Zuko only wished he could have gone with them. But he knew from the start he'd have to stay behind. Someone had to keep the guards' attention from finding some way to stop the gondola.

The hours he spent in the cooler passed slowly. He coughed out fire to keep himself warm, as he'd done in the North Pole, months ago. He suspected the warden was keeping him in here longer than usual for personal reasons. Snarling, Zuko tried not to think about what was happening now. Instead, he focused on happy memories, nothing to do with the Fire Nation. _Aang's innocence trust, Toph's quick and wild laugh, Sokka's friendly sarcasm, Teo's welcoming warmness, The Duke's free and independent spirit, Haru's willingness to forgive and forget, Katara's beautiful smile that always makes me blush because she's so beautiful... _

Zuko's eyes snapped wide at his thoughts. He hadn't realized before, but now, looking back on it, he realized he _did _find himself attracted to the waterbender, and probably always had. She was pretty. He remembered the first time he saw her, and now, looking back, he realized _why _he'd always tried to fight her, and not the others, if he could help it.

So the banished prince sat in the cooler, thinking about his friends, and wondering if they were thinking of him. He wasn't certain when he would see them again, but at least he could hope that maybe, somehow, he'd get out before he froze to death. He coughed fire, and was surprised that this time, the tiny ball of flame was even smaller and dimmer, and barely warmed his face and hands. The other one had warmed his entire body. Sighing, Zuko lowered his head to rest between his knees, so there would be less space for his body heat to travel to keep him warm. He was getting tired, too. And in his tiredness, his thoughts drifted to Katara, and he wondered just what she and the others were doing at that moment.

-

-

Katara sighed. She was the last and only one up that night. Everyone was sleeping. Looking up at the stars and the moon, Katara thought about Zuko, and how he'd given his freedom for Sokka, Suki, Hakoda, and that Chit-seng guy. The more she thought about what he'd done for them, the more she wondered why she hadn't seen his actions in the past; the way he'd discretely tried not to hurt her in all their fights, the almost pleading, innocent undertone when he'd spoken to her as she'd stood, tied to that tree. He really wasn't ever a bad person. He'd just had a difficult, unforgiving life that led him down a path he probably never wanted to travel to begin with.

"Oh, Zuko," she whispered, looking at one star in particular. It was brighter than the others, and for some reason, it reminded the waterbender of Zuko, and his spirit seemed to shine sometimes. She found herself wondering what he was doing, whether or not he was alright. _He's so helpful, and sweet. I don't know what we'll do without him. Chit-seng may have a good heart, but he's not very patient or good at teaching. We need you, Zuko. You're always so kind, and patient. You're always helping and watching out for everyone. We need you. _I_ need you..._

Katara's eyes widened when she realized what her mind had just admitted, and a hand flew to her lips, shocked. She racked her brain for an answer, or a reason for her thoughts, but when it came down to it, she found he was attractive. She hadn't realized before, but, when she thought about it, all the insults, and snaps to the others about how much she despised him were just veils to keep hidden her true feelings. She sighed, wishing she could see him again; wishing he'd been able to escape along with the others. She gazed at that one bright star and wondered just what Zuko was doing.

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There, I finally got the second chapter done. Review please!


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